


i'll wipe your tears before they dry

by hi_raeth



Series: retweet (twitter fics) [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Reylo Baby, content warning: depiction of immediate moments following childbirth, content warning: mentions of pregnancy, cry because THESE TWO ARE JUST SO SOFT AND I LOVE THEM YOUR HONOR, cry because you're happy/sad/tired/amused, cry because your boyfriend is ridiculous and you love him for it, no gory/explicit details, only fluffy sappy details, originally posted on twitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:15:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24981424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hi_raeth/pseuds/hi_raeth
Summary: Five times Rey cries, and one time Ben does.Alternatively: the tale of how Rey and Ben created a new love language by always being there to wipe each other's tears away.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: retweet (twitter fics) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1639294
Comments: 61
Kudos: 296





	i'll wipe your tears before they dry

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, [the third and final 5+1 Twitter prompt fill!](https://twitter.com/hiraeth_writes/status/1272166052437225474)
> 
> Title inspired by Halsey's _Wipe Your Tears_.

> **1\. When they found a kitten**

It’s drizzling the night of their fourth date.

Rey steps into the light mist with a smile on her face, and waves off Ben’s offer to find an umbrella. “I like the rain,” she tells him, and leaves it at that. He’ll put it together, her reaction to the rain and her childhood in the desert; Ben’s good at that, good to her.

They walk side by side, close enough to brush against each other every few steps, and it isn’t long at all before he catches her swinging hand and laces their fingers together. It’s all still so new to them, this relationship thing and all that it represents, but Rey thinks they’re doing just fine.

One look at Ben’s boyish little smile before he ducks his head with the slightest tinge of pink on his cheeks, and Rey decides they’re doing better than fine. Good enough that maybe, just maybe, tonight will be the night she asks to go home with him instead of letting him drop her off at the apartment she shares with Rose.

Before she can gather the courage to broach the subject, though, her ears pick up on a string of muffled yet high-pitched sounds.

“Rey?” Ben asks when she stops walking, bringing them both to a halt right in front of an alley between the restaurant and a darkened storefront. A single streetlight illuminates the small space stuffed full of discarded black garbage bags and disintegrating cardboard boxes, and her eyes zero in on one box in particular when the noises – kitten mewls, she suddenly realizes – start again.

The box is twitching.

“I think–” She steps into the alley, and Ben dutifully follows. “I think there’s a– There, do you hear that?”

She lets go of Ben’s hand to reach for the box, and sure enough there’s a tiny little ball of fur huddled in a corner, shivering violently.

“ _Oh_ ,” Ben says quietly as he bends down with her, the both of them curled over the box. Rey reaches one shaky, tentative hand out and is met by damp fur that immediately leans into the warmth of her palm.

Bright green eyes cautiously meet hers as the kitten presses itself more fully against her, and Rey reaches her other hand into the box to engulf it in warmth. It’s so soft and sweet and _scared_ , and she knows the statistics and superstitions about black kittens, Rose rages about it every Halloween, but here and now it’s real, it’s a tiny little thing all on its own, _abandoned_ –

She doesn’t even realize she’s crying until Ben gently brushes her tears away.

“I can’t–” Rey croaks at him, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the kitten, “Ben, I can’t just leave it behind–”

He looks at the orphan girl and the abandoned kitten, and immediately pieces it together. Ben’s good at that.

“No one’s getting left behind,” he promises her in soft, warm tones, and carefully reaches into the box. His hand is bigger, so much bigger and warmer, and it doesn’t take much to coax the kitten into his palm.

That night they go home together, Ben and Rey and the little black kitten they end up naming Kylo, after the Celestial Wars character they first bonded over.

> **2\. When Rey’s dreams came true**

After an eventful first day at Cloud City, Rey comes home to find the apartment gilded in golden light, flickering candles scattered around every surface of the living room and kitchen.

The sight leaves her so surprised she nearly doesn’t notice Ben emerge from the kitchen, a welcoming smile on his face and a dripping wooden spoon in one hand.

“Babe, what is this?” Rey asks as she sets down her messenger bag and hangs up her jacket, her voice colored by nervous laughter. It can’t be their anniversary, that’s at least two more months away, and she knows for sure he’s not proposing, not when they just talked about it last week and decided to wait a couple more years, plus both their birthdays have already come and gone for the year–

“It’s a _congratulations on getting your dream job_ dinner,” Ben tells her as they both step forward to meet each other in the middle, and Rey melts into his embrace when his free hand wraps around her waist. “Welcome home, sweetheart. How was your first day?”

Rey snuggles into the crook of his neck with a happy sigh. “ _Amazing_ ,” she tells him truthfully. Lando Calrissian himself had welcomed her in the lobby and taken her on a tour of the campus, a breathtaking feat of futuristic architecture nestled into lush greenery. After, she’d been assigned to Paige Tico’s team, who is every bit as warm and welcoming as her younger sister. And to top it all off, her desk gives her a clear view of both the testing hangar _and_ the sparkling lake that borders one end of Cloud City.

She tells Ben all this and more as he leads her to the kitchen, and he offers her a forkful of beef stroganoff fresh from the stove when she’s done. “So it’s everything you dreamed of?” he asks, his thumb reaching forward to wipe a drop of sauce from the corner of her mouth with a fond smile.

And in that moment, it hits her that her life really _is_ everything she ever dreamed of.

She’s an aerospace engineer, something she’s wanted ever since she caught a glimpse of Cloud City’s first rocket launch on TV when she was nine.

She’s surrounded by friends who believe in her and care for her, a concept it’s taken her years to wrap her head around.

And after all these years, she has a home to come back to at the end of each day – and she’s not even talking about the apartment, as much as she loves it. She has Ben, Ben who came home early from work today to celebrate her first day at work, Ben who knows all of her dreams and has vowed to be right next to her as she achieves them, Ben who is everything she never even dared to hope for.

Warm tears escape her even as her lips curve into a smile. By the time Ben has crossed the kitchen island to draw her into his arms, she’s smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.

“What is it?” he asks gently, a tentative smile on his face even as his eyes meet hers with concern.

Rey shakes her head as Ben wipes her tears away, and reaches one hand up to cup his face, her heart melting at the way he leans into her touch. “Nothing, it’s nothing, I just… I just realized how perfect everything is right now. This job, my friends, our home, _you_ – it’s almost too good to be true.”

Ben allows himself a proper smile then, ducks down to kiss her soft and slow and sweet. “It’s what you deserve, sweetheart,” he murmurs between kisses. “All this and so much more.”

She knows he means it, knows he would give her the galaxy if he could, but Rey doesn’t want more. With Ben by her side, she already has everything she needs.

> **3\. When Ben became a milkmaid**

Rey likes to think she’s picked up a thing or two about braiding over these past few years with Ben. Sure, she’s still a little hopeless at braiding her own hair, and yeah, she’ll probably never get the hang of the fancier Alderaanian braids, but as she pins the last braid into place just behind Ben’s ear, Rey decides she’s pretty happy with her progress.

“All done!” she declares, sinking back into the couch as Ben slowly rises from the floor, where he’s been sitting cross-legged for the past fifteen minutes to humor her sudden request. It’s just so rare for his hair to get this long these days, now that he’s a proper lawyer and all, and she’s missed weaving her wonky handiwork into his soft black waves.

Ben turns around to let her inspect the crown she’s attempted to braid into his hair, his probing fingers running through each bump and groove of her basic three-strand. It’s her first attempt at a crown, and while the ones he braids for her usually look elegant and regal, Rey can’t help but notice that this one looks…

“That bad?” Ben asks with a smile when her laughter escapes her with a snort.

“No, no,” Rey tries to assure him, but now that the thought is in her brain she just can’t shake the mental image of him in a lush green pasture, the little costume straining across his chest, a checkered apron flapping in the wind…

She succumbs to a full-on laughing fit then, and between gulps of air somehow manages to choke out, “Y- you… look li- like a… a… milkmaid!”

The stunned look on Ben’s face only makes things worse, and Rey clutches at her stomach as Ben reaches for his phone on the coffee table and holds up his front camera to inspect his new look.

Her laughter subsides while Ben angles his phone this way and that to get a better look at himself, but just as she thinks she’s gotten it all out of her system–

Ben sets his phone down, turns to her with a wide grin, and puts on a painfully bad, vaguely Bavarian accent. “Oh well, time to start my chores.” And then he reaches his hands toward her chest, making grabbing motions as he approaches.

Rey leaps off the couch with a shriek of laughter and runs into the kitchen, her heart warming even as she warns Ben to knock it off. This is the silly side of him he’d sooner jump off a cliff than let anyone else see, but around her, _for_ her, he’s always so quick to let his guard down and just go with her silliness.

“But the milkmaid needs to milk!” he insists as they chase each other in circles around the kitchen island, and the combination of his bad accent and an exaggerated pout has Rey gasping for breath as tears stream down her face. She darts out of the kitchen and into their bedroom, doubling over as she falls onto their bed.

“No more,” she pleads with him as Ben appears in their doorway. “Please, no more, it _hurts_ ,” Rey whines through laughter, grabbing at the stitch in her side.

The mattress sinks under Ben’s weight as he sits next to her, and Rey goes willingly when he pulls her into his lap and curls one big, warm hand around her side. “Okay, no more,” Ben assures her, brushing a kiss to her temple. His eyes twinkle with a smile as he wipes away the last of her tears.

Rey shakes her head even as her lips can’t help but curve into a grin at the sight of him, all red cheeks and bright eyes and disheveled braids. “You, Ben Solo, are a ridiculous man.”

He just shrugs and holds her tight, presses another smiling kiss to her forehead. “You love me for it.”

She does, she really does.

> **4\. When Rey was stressed out**

“Rey, it’s two in the morning.”

It’s a slow, painful motion, drawing herself upright from her hunched-over position at her desk and turning around to find Ben leaning against the doorway of their home office, eyes bleary and hair mussed from restless sleep.

Oddly enough, it’s the sight of him fighting against a yawn that finally alerts Rey to just how tired she is, exhaustion slamming into her with all the force of a wrecking ball. She’s been at this since dinner, which was… six, seven hours ago? And still she’s no closer to a solution than she was at the start of today. Yesterday. Whatever.

“Sweetheart, you need to take a break,” Ben tells her as he steps into the office. He crouches down in front of her and rests his hands on her shoulders, worried eyes imploring her to come to bed. “ _Please._ Get some rest, you can try again tomorrow–”

“I can’t,” Rey croaks, voice hoarse from hours of silence. “I’ve got to finish up Rose and Kay’s wedding invitations before I leave, and then we have back-to-back meetings all morning, and I told your mom I’d meet her for lunch, and after that Paige wants me to look at–” A choked sob forces its way past her lips, and Rey crumples into Ben’s waiting arms.

It’s too much, it’s all just _too much._

Ben runs a warm, soothing hand up and down her back while making quiet, comforting sounds, and it all just comes pouring out of her as hot tears spill past eyes burning from exhaustion and strain. “I’m just– I’m so _tired_ , Ben, but I don’t have time to be tired. I can’t fail, this is my one chance to prove myself to Lando and if I don’t everyone’s going to realize I don’t belong here at all and I’m just a worthless fraud–“

His hand stills for a moment before he brings it up to rest on the back of her neck and gently guides her to tilt her head back and look at him. “ _Hey_. No. Don’t do that, don’t _ever_ say those things about yourself–”

“But it’s true,” she insists with a sniffle. “I’ve been at this for a whole day and I still have no idea what to do, no one would blame Lando if he–”

Ben presses a finger to her lips. “Lando would be an absolute hypocrite if he punished you for something even he can’t figure out. And my uncle might be many things, Rey, but a hypocrite is not one of them.”

Some small, rational part of her knows he’s right, knows Lando would never be that awful to her, but rational Rey was knocked out by exhausted, catastrophizing Rey hours ago.

“Also, what do you mean you need to finish up the invitations? Didn’t you get my text?”

Rey scrunches up her nose in confusion until she remembers– “I haven’t checked my phone since lunch.”

Ben presses a kiss to her forehead with a smile that’s somehow both fond and exasperated. “What are we going to _do_ with you?” he sighs as he pulls them both up to their feet. “Rey, I finished them for you when I got home from work. I texted you about it, and also about rescheduling with my mom so you don’t have to rush across town tomorrow.”

For the first time in hours, Rey feels like she can breathe again. “You did?”

“I did,” Ben assures her as he begins guiding her out of the office. “I even called Kaydel to make sure I got everything right. And you know my mom won’t mind rescheduling, just say the word and I’ll handle it.”

Their bedroom door has been left ajar, and the warm light spilling into the hallway has never been more welcoming. There’s no fight left in her as Ben helps her into bed, her eyelids growing heavy even as a dozen stray thoughts fight to be heard. “But I didn’t save my files–”

Warm lips brush her temple. “Let me take care of it,” Ben murmurs, his voice sounding miles away as she begins to drift off. “Let me take care of you, sweetheart.”

Three years into their relationship and sometimes she still struggles with the concept of having someone take care of her, of having someone who _wants_ to take care of her.

But god, if she doesn’t love it. And him. “Love you,” she sighs as he pulls the covers up to her shoulders and brushes her hair out of her face.

The last thing she hears before sleep claims her is her favorite sound in the world: “I love you too, Rey.”

> **5\. When Rey cried happy tears**

The thing is, they’ve talked about this.

A lot.

After their fifth date, lying in the dark and dreaming about the future with Kylo curled between them and lulling them to sleep with his soft kitten purrs.

On their second anniversary, when Ben told her he couldn’t bear to even imagine a life without her in it and she confessed to feeling the same way.

The day after Poe proposed to Finn in the most ridiculous, outlandish way, when Rey made Ben promise that their moment, when it eventually happens, would be just for them.

And yet, after all these years of them talking about the day Ben would propose to her, Rey finds herself stunned speechless now that the moment has finally arrived, now that Ben has gotten down on one knee in their living room and asked her the most important question of all.

The gentle touch of his warm palm curved around her cheek grounds her in the moment, an anchor to the present even as her heart feels so light with euphoria she might just float away.

But then he frowns, and sets the ring aside, and suddenly everything is going wrong.

“Is it too soon? I’m so sorry, sweetheart, I thought we agreed but… _fuck_ , but I should have checked with you first, I was just so nervous I completely forgot–”

“Ben, what–?”

Once Ben starts spiraling though, there’s rarely any stopping him. And Rey realizes that’s exactly what’s happening once he drops down to both knees and gingerly cradles her face with panic in his eyes. “You don’t have to say yes right now. Hell, you don’t have to say yes ever if you’ve changed your mind, we’ll figure something out, just please don’t cry, Rey, I’m so sorry, don’t cry, sweetheart–”

She feels terrible for him, really she does, poor Ben must be going through such a terrifying rollercoaster right now, but none of that is enough to stop the incredulous laughter that bubbles past her lips. " _Ben_ ,” she finally manages, her voice dripping with fondness and joy and love, “Ben, baby, these are happy tears.”

His hands slide off her face as he falls back on his haunches, eyes glazed over with a combination of relief and confusion. “They are?”

And now it’s Rey’s turn to get out of her chair and fall down to her knees, all the while still beaming at him through tear-blurred sight. She curls one hand around the side of his neck and slides the other into his hair, and presses her lips to his with a smile that’s too wide for kissing. “Of course they are. I’m so, _so_ happy, love.”

Ben sighs against her lips and slumps closer in relief, resting his forehead against hers. “So that’s a yes?”

Rey gives him one last peck before she pulls back and offers him a shaking hand. “It’s been a yes ever since our fifth date.”

“Oh good, so it wasn’t just me,” Ben says as he retrieves the little velvet box on the ground. He catches her questioning look as he pops the lid open to reveal the familiar sight of his grandmother’s stunning emerald ring, and the smile that lights up his face as he presents it to her is as bright and warm and beautiful as a sunrise. “I called my mom to ask for this ring the second you left that morning.”

Five years. He’s been waiting five years for her to catch up with him, and suddenly every single conversation they’ve ever had about marriage reveals itself for what it truly was: Ben checking to see if she was ready yet, patiently waiting and never once dropping even the slightest hint or showing any signs of impatience while she was focused on school, on work, on every other aspect of their lives together.

But now everything else has fallen into place, and here is the final piece to complete the beautiful puzzle of their future.

Rey can barely keep still long enough for him to slide the ring on her finger, throwing her arms around him as soon as the precious heirloom finds its new home. “I love you so much,” she sighs as happy tears trail down her cheeks once again, “and I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.”

Ben smiles and pauses to wipe her tears away as he always does before closing the distance between them. “I love you too, sweetheart,” he murmurs between kisses, “now and forever.”

_Forever._

She likes the sound of that.

> **+1: When Ben cried happy tears**

Rey can count on both hands the number of times she’s seen her husband cry in the seven years that they’ve been together.

It’s not that Ben is one of those meatheads who think crying is a weakness or _unmanly_ – he tears up all the time and is always open about his emotions, and she loves that about him. But rarely do those tears spill over, and throughout her entire pregnancy she’s yet to see him actually _cry_ beyond shedding a tear or two in reaction to things like their first ultrasound and the baby’s first kick.

But as soon as their daughter enters the world screaming and crying, Ben bursts into an unending stream of tears.

“Dad, you wanna hold her?” the doctor offers as soon as the baby is cleaned up and before the nurses can whisk her away for testing, and even through the haze of exhaustion and pain Rey finds herself smiling at the sight of a bawling Ben nodding wordlessly and cautiously taking their daughter into his arms.

He just… stands there for a minute, tears rolling down his cheeks as he sets eyes upon their baby, the light of their lives, for the very first time.

“Ben?” Rey eventually rasps, reluctant to spoil the moment but impatient for her turn.

“Sorry, sorry, I– I just… Rey, _look_ at her,” he whispers with a smile as he comes to sit on the very edge of her bed, slowly lowering the baby so that Rey can reach up and caress one unimaginably soft and plump cheek.

Rey fiercely blinks away the tears that threaten to hide her daughter from sight. “She’s perfect,” she agrees, looking up to spare Ben a quick smile before her eyes are drawn to their daughter once more. “Hi, Meira.”

A nurse steps in to help them transfer the baby into Rey’s arms, and she can’t help but shed a few tears of her own at the precious warmth of her daughter pressed to her bare skin, the rightness of it all.

“She has your nose,” Ben points out with no small amount of relief, one finger hovering just above Meira’s little scrunched-up nose. He’s still crying when Rey tilts her head to look up at him, but the amazed little smile on his face has given way to a full-blown grin, brighter than the sunrise that marked their daughter’s entrance into the world.

Very, very carefully, Rey secures Meira with one hand before the other rises to curve around Ben’s cheek, heart fluttering at the way he still automatically leans into her touch after all this time. “And your lips,” she murmurs, eyes dropping down momentarily to his mouth. Her husband, intuitive as always, gingerly bends down to give her a chaste kiss, careful not to jostle Meira in the process.

Warm tears drip onto her cheek before Ben pulls away, and Rey allows herself a small laugh as she gently wipes away the last of his tears.

Ben catches her hand with his own before she can drop it, laces their fingers together and gives her a squeeze. “ _Thank you_ ,” he tells her fervently, voice thick with everything he’s left unsaid.

For their daughter.

For giving him the family he’s always wanted.

For choosing him and loving him the way he’s always needed, the way he chose and loves her.

Rey smiles and pulls their joined hands down to her lips, brushes a kiss across his knuckles before she returns her attention to Meira, who’s nuzzling her chest and tickling her skin with little puffy breaths. Ben drapes one arm around her shoulder and presses a kiss to her temple, whispers an _I love you_ that she quietly returns as they both watch their daughter open her eyes for the very first time.

And even as a fresh wave of tears hits them both, Rey knows they have never been happier.

**Author's Note:**

> Look, when I first saw this prompt I figured we were in for one hell of an angsty ride. But these two surprised me as they always do, and I hope you had as much fun reading this fluff fest as I did writing it. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! If you'd like more fluffy 5+1 fics, the first two prompt fills are also a part of this series. And if you enjoyed this, feel free to leave a comment below or say hi on Twitter. I'm working on a few things I hope to be able to share with y'all soon, but until then: take care and stay safe, friends.


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